Gauhati HC sets aside order declaring BSF man, wife foreigners

Guwahati: A divisional bench of the Gauhati High Court has set aside an order passed by a Foreigners’ Tribunal declaring a husband-wife duo as foreigners and instructed the tribunal to dispose off the matter within two months.

The Foreigners’ Tribunal at Jorhat district in Upper Assam declared one Muzibur Rahman, a Border Security Force (BSF) official and his wife Georgina Begum as foreigners. An Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) with the BSF, Rahman is posted in Punjab at present.

The Rahmans said that they had never received any notice from the Foreigners’ Tribunal summoning them for the hearing. The Rahmans, residents of Merapani in Golaghat district, belong to a family of freedom fighters and have documents dating back to 1926 to prove their Indian identity.

“The Foreigners’ Tribunals at Jorhat had declared both the husband and wife foreigners on December 21, 2018. We moved the high court against the FT judgement and submitted our prayer with documentary evidence,” said Rahman’s counsel, Nekibur Zaman.

“Based on our prayer and argument, a divisional bench of the Gauhati High Court not only set aside the FT order dated December 21, 2018 but also asked the FT to dispose of the matter within two month time,” Zaman said adding that they are going to submit the grievances to the FT on September 27.

Zaman said that the border police, in this case, have never served any notice to the Rahmans. They only served a notice at the house of the village head sometime back which was not handed over to the Rahmans.

“We have never received any notice from the Foreigners’ Tribunal in the past. Recently when I was at home during leave, we received the Foreigners’ Tribunal notice declaring us as foreigners,” said Rahman.

Prior to the Rahmans, retired Indian Army officer Md. Sana Ullah was declared a foreigner by a foreigners’ tribunal in Assam following which he was sent to a detention camp. Although the Gauhati High Court granted him interim bail, Sana Ullah is still pursuing his case in the high court.

 Published on: Sep 7, 2019 at 18:55 IST

IANS